De Graafschap vs Emmen Predictions

As the Eredevisie season draws to a close, it’s fair to say that things have not gone well for Graafschap, who’ve won none of their last five. They’ve drawn just one of them. After picking up just a single point from their last five, Tuesday’s hosts find themselves six points from safety. If they’ve got any hope of beating the drop, then they need to take maximum points from this game.

It’s tough to put a positive spin on what De Graafschap have done of late; they’ve struggled defensively, conceded in each of their last five, shipped a total of ten goals, while they haven’t scored more than once during that time.

However, they haven’t been overly poor at home in recent weeks. Last time out at this venue they managed to hold a decent AZ side to a draw, which was pleasing. The fact that they only shipped 0.95 expected goals on that occasion was also pleasing.

In addition to a decent effort last time out at De Vijverberg, Graafschap have often played well at home against fellow struggling teams. They recently got the better of NAC Breda, while they also beat Excelsior at this venue. Tuesday’s hosts have also scored at least twice in 100% of their home games against teams currently in the bottom four.

As for the visitors, well, Emmen have been somewhat dreadful on their travels for most of the campaign. They come into this game having lost five of their last six travelling matches, conceding a total of 18 goals in the process. They’ve conceded at least twice in five of those six and have shipped at least three goals in four of them.

Furthermore, FC Emmen come into this game with a very poor set of underlying figures to their name. They’ve conceded an average of 2.26 expected goals away from home, while they’ve averaged just 0.99 at the other end. In contrast, Graafschap have averaged 1.32 for at home and have conceded an average of 1.43.

In the betting, ‘Graafschap to Win & Over 1.5 Goals’ stands out as the best option. Given their previous high-scoring home wins over the teams around them in the table, coupled with Graafschap’s terrible efforts on the road this season, the hosts, who’ve scored a respectable average of 1.53 goals at home this season, are backed to lift their spirits by both winning and scoring a few goals.